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With that in mind football.london looks at four deals that could allow Arsenal to strengthen without committing sizeable sums.

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Alexandre Lacazette for Thomas Partey

The most obvious option here. Arsenal have a longstanding interest in Thomas Partey. Atletico Madrid have a longstanding interest in Alexandre Lacazette.

Indeed Arsenal only managed to secure Lacazette in 2017 against such minimal competition because of a transfer ban imposed on Atletico, who before then had been leading the way in the pursuit of the Lyon striker.

Atleti’s struggles in front of goal have become all the more pronounced since Antoine Griezmann’s move and in 27 La Liga games this season they have scored just 31 goals, fewer than half of Barcelona’s tally.

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Meanwhile Arsenal’s need for a robust, dynamic midfielder who can win the ball back and move it forward has been noted so much as to become a cliche but it is one with plenty of truth underlying it.

Lacazette is a little older and has one year less on his contract but Thomas’ release clause of £43.5million is not too far off the sort of fee Arsenal might consider acceptable for the France striker. If Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were to stay then there is a more convincing argument

Shkodran Mustafi for Emiliano Buendia

One of the more left-field suggestions among our quartet and certainly one where Arsenal might have to send a fair few million Norwich’s way to grease the wheels.

Buendia has been outstanding for the newly-promoted Canaries this season, establishing himself as one of the league’s best creative players outside the top six. Only Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold have completed more passes that lead to shots than the Argentine’s 41 whilst his expected assist tally of 6.9 ranks him behind just the latter duo and Riyad Mahrez.

Arsenal during the break

At just 23 years of age there is reason to believe Buendia could hit great heights at Norwich.

What’s in it for Norwich? Their defence has been one of the most accommodating in the Premier League this season with only Aston Villa having conceded more than their 52 goals against.

In all likelihood that will lead them to the Championship, a league it is hard to see Mustafi being overly keen to play in. But there is clear value for the Canaries in adding an experienced centre-back who, in the case of the former, has proven he is capable of excelling in the right environment.

It may be that a step down Mustafi might set him on the path to fulfilling his potential.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Dani Ceballos

If Aubameyang had it his way his next destination after Arsenal would surely be Real Madrid, the club he has always dreamed of turning out for. The challenge would be putting together a deal that both convinced the Gunners to sell and makes financial sense for the Spanish giants.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates after heading Arsenal into the lead against Newcastle (Image: Photo by James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images)

This might not be it, after all Ceballos has long been heralded as a long-term successor to Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in the Real Madrid midfield. But then Zinedine Zidane is not short of young prospects in those positions, including Martin Odegaard and Federico Valverde.

Ceballos’ season on loan may have been disrupted by injury but at his best he has looked like just what Arsenal have been looking for since losing Santi Cazorla to injury, a player who can build play from deep, is two-footed and can feed quick balls to the forward line.

There are alternative options if Real Madrid were not inclined to swap Ceballos - why not Luka Jovic if they’re signing a new striker - but there is a tempting argument to go for the option that Arsenal know works.

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Rather out of left-field this one but it is the case that Ainsley Maitland-Niles has a great deal of work to do in convincing Arsenal he has a long-term career in north London. His contract still has three years left to run, meaning there is no need to rush into a decision, but if the 22-year-old can be used as a makeweight to get the Gunners a player they really want it may be his greatest value.

Kokcu is a player Arsenal have been tracking for some time and who would be a more creative addition to their midfield, particularly in light of Ceballos’ likely return to Real Madrid later in the season. At just 19 he has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the Eredivisie this season.

The Turkish youth international is also a diligent, energetic presser who can add energy and passing ability to a midfield that has been crying out for it. The harsh reality is that Maitland-Niles probably cannot even if he could yet impress elsewhere.